Ivan Redkach Will No Longer Face Adrien Broner In February

The fight between Adrien Broner and Ivan Redkach may be in jeopardy as we hear from Redkach's promoter Star Boxing in regards to the current status of the fight.

Update: 

After reading Redkach's twitter feed and receiving a phone call from Star Boxing's Joe DeGuardia, Redkach is officially out of the fight against Adrien Broner. Deguardia told NYF: “As far as we can tell right now, the fight is off (meaning Redkach won't be facing Broner and not that the whole card is scrapped) and I got that from BLK (Prime). I saw this coming from the beginning as they (BLK Prime) never followed protocol. We have a contract (Redkach is signed to Star Boxing) and they never spoke with us (in the beginning) and it's been a nightmare.”

When asked about the comments Redkach made on Twitter, Deguardia said “I'd rather take the high road. It's unfortunate because it is so far from the truth. I will say that he (Redkach) did want to fight because he did offer us the money. I wasn't taking his money. I'm not interested in his money.

Redkach posted this on his Twitter feed.

I'm interested in the deal taking place properly. I can't represent a fighter and have him fight Adrien Broner when my guy wanted to be at 135 lbs, then we agreed to the fight at 144 lbs but then it moved up to 147 without any penalty clauses if the guy comes over 147 lbs. He's really a 135 pounder so what are you going to do, have him come in at 154lbs? If he still wants to do that, it's his choice but if I'm going to be doing the POS & agreement, I'm going to protect those things. BLK didn't want to do a POS so they asked for a release. Every step of the way, we tried to do the right thing.” 

Redkach signed to Star Boxing in August and according to DeGuradia, Redkach signed a “multi-year deal.” DeGuardia told NYF “If Ivan (Redkach) is still wanting to fight, he will be fighting for us. I don't like the things I see out there and I chalk it up to frustration but he's channeling his frustration at the wrong place.”

It's a messy situation and like the Spiderman meme that is always on social media, fingers are being pointed everywhere. Redkach will be speaking exclusively to NYFights here soon to give his take on the whole situation. Stay tuned.

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While everyone was closely watching the NFL Wild Card Games on Sunday, little did we know that 36-year-old Ukrainian fighter Ivan Redkach (23-6-1) was about to release a series of tweets that would imply the fight with Adrien Broner (34-4-1) was off. Although this was news to most, I wasn’t surprised to hear this as earlier in the week, I tweeted out a promo picture of both Redkach & Broner following rumors of Redkach being out of the fight.

Although we are a little over a month away from the fight, this can’t be good if you’re BLK Prime and trying to establish their presence in both boxing and the streaming/PPV market. When it comes to Redkach, he signed with Star Boxing back in August, and when you are dealing with multiple promoters within a card, these types of complications can come up.

I reached out to Star Boxing on Tuesday when the rumors started circulating about Redkach potentially being out of the fight. Although an official comment wasn’t furnished at the time, there seemed to be some issues with the fight and I was told that Star Boxing would provide an official statement once they were able to.

Where there is smoke, there is fire, and on Sunday night, shortly before midnight, Redkach released a series of tweets that followed the one he sent out the day prior. He thanked BLK Prime for the opportunity and, towards the end, said, “there are people who do not want this.”

Now it doesn’t take a CSI person to figure out that the problem Redkach was describing had more to do with those involved and not so much him wanting the fight, according to the tweets. I again reached out to Star Boxing this afternoon, and their Founder & CEO, Joe DeGuardia, had this to say about the whole situation “I can tell you from Ivan’s (Redkach) standpoint, he wants the fight and is looking forward to fighting (Adrien) Broner on the 25^th.  There are issues with the show potentially I guess but I can’t tell you one way or the other because it’s not my show. Things are still fluid and hopefully the fight takes place. I don’t see a reason why this fight wouldn’t take place but it’s up to BLK (Prime) as they are doing the show. We are going to do everything in our power to see that Ivan (Redkach) gets the fight.”

DeGuardia continued “I heard about Ivan’s tweet and chalked that up as frustration. It’s been a frustrating process and frustrating for us as well too. All I can tell you is that the ball isn’t in our court. There are many other parties in this situation. If it were my show, I would be able to tell you right off the bat but it’s not our show.”

Recently, Zab Judah (who is involved with BLK Prime) tweeted about the show but did not have Redkach’s name as part of the hashtag which is contrary to what normally occurs when you are promoting a main event.

Feb 25 AB Is Bacc ATL Here We Come. #AdrienBroner #BLKPrimeBoxing

— ZAB JUDAH 6x Champ! (@SUPERJUDAH) January 16, 2023

There are always two sides to the story; the truth typically lands somewhere in the middle. We have heard from Redkach’s promoter, and shortly we will hear from Redkach himself, so all of the information will be out there for you to determine who is to blame. In the meantime, BLK Prime has the task of potentially finding a replacement opponent that will suit them and their headlining fighter Broner who has made it quite clear that he isn’t fighting any “monsters” in the near future. Follow the story here on the site as it continues to develop.

You can follow Abe on Twitter @abeg718 and subscribe to “The Boxing Rush Hour Show” podcast on all streaming platforms.